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HOPE not hate news round-up

FURIOUS BNP chiefs have drafted in security guards - to protect a POSTER.The far-right party splashed out £2,000 on its first billboard campaign in Scotland.But just hours after the massive sign was unveiled, it was targeted by outraged protesters and torn down.And since being replaced, the poster has been pelted more...

A critically acclaimed play about the British National Party and homophobia which has toured the most racially sensitive areas of the country in an effort to "start a conversation about the far right" has been barred from a stage in Dudley for fear of community disapproval.The play's production team yesterday more...

The British National Party is attempting to cloak its image as a party of violent, racist thugs by appealing to middle-class voters at the general election.Nick Griffin, the BNP's leader, has signalled a radical change in strategy for the forthcoming campaign after his widely derided performance last October on BBC1's more...

THE British National Party faces a new probe after its chief fundraiser secured more than £111,000 of European Union cash.James Dowson, who raised money for the party’s general election campaign, received the funds in 2006 under an EU programme to promote peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.His organisation Solas NI more...

The BNP's London campaign chief was today facing suspension as a councillor after launching a racist “tirade” against Nigerian church-goers.Bob Bailey, 44, took an “antagonistic and offensive” tone when a black pastor applied for planning permission to convert Barking offices into a church.A meeting in Barking town hall was in more...

On Friday, May 7, Britain could wake up to its first British National Party-run council.The previous day many parts of the country will hold local elections - and the far-right party is in striking distance of winning control of Barking and Dagenham Council.The BNP is already the official opposition there, more...

The next Bishop of Chelmsford today urged people in his diocese not to vote for the British National Party in the forthcoming general election.The Right Reverend Steven Cottrell, the Bishop of Reading - who was named as the next Bishop of the Essex and East London Diocese - said the more...

COUNCILLORS, religious leaders and union representatives have joined together to condemn the British National Party.A joint statement by 44 people accuses the party, which is contesting Lewisham’s mayoral election, of stirring up race hate.Along with other mayoral candidates, signatories also include the Bishop of Woolwich the Rt Rev Christopher Chessun more...

A year after the BNP's Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons were elected to the European Parliament on an "antisleaze" ticket, the pair stand accused of exploiting expense allowances.The Daily Mirror can reveal that much of the party leadership is on the EU payroll, including a personal bodyguard.Last June Nick Griffin's more...

A former leader of the British National Party (BNP) in Stoke-on-Trent has criticised his old party as he prepares to fight it in the general election.Alby Walker said "there's a vein of Holocaust denying within the BNP".Mr Walker will stand as an independent parliamentary candidate in Stoke-on-Trent Central and face more...

An estimated 2000 extra people turned up to see the League Two match between Dagenham & Redbridge and Maclesfield Town yesterday. The extra 2000 people took advantage of a fantastic initiative by the club to have an anti-racist day with tickets for as little as 25p for under 18's more...

While BNP leader Nick Griffin is standing for parliament in Barking, control of the local council is the party's main target. Now campaigners have begun to challenge the far right in an area where its rhetoric on jobs and homes has strong appealThe "war-room", as it has become known, occupies more...

The communities minister argues for a different approach to tackling the far right in the coming electionsFor decades, I have marched and demonstrated against the far right. But almost a million votes for the BNP last year, councillors across the country and the shameful election of Nick Griffin and Andrew more...

BNP leader Nick Griffin was accused of joining “the expenses gravy train” today after it emerged that he has claimed hundreds of thousands of pounds.The British National Party chief, who was elected last year as Euro MP for the North West of England, has submitted claims for more than £200,000 more...

A “VILE” and racist party has announced its candidate for Lewisham borough’s mayoral election.Tess Culnane, who previously ran unsuccessfully for the far-right National Front at the London Assembly, has now been named as the British National Party (BNP) candidate for Mayor of Lewisham.Ms Culnane, a long-term resident of the borough, more...

A Euro MP has challenged BNP leader Nick Griffin to make his expenses claims public.Liberal Democrat Chris Davies, who represents the North West in the European Parliament, says that despite an allowance of £14,000 a month for the payment of staff, Mr Griffin lists only three employees, one of whom more...

A DAD branded the British National Party "despicable" last night for trying to recruit his son by sending leaflets to his school.Tom Hunter, 13, was targeted by the right-wing extremists after he stood for the UK Youth Parliament.He was shocked when he opened a letter left for him at the more...

The Independent on Sunday by Brian Brady and Jane Merrick
| Sunday, 14 March 2010

British National Party leaders were under fire yesterday after it emerged that they were plotting to "derail" a government programme aimed at quashing violent extremism throughout the UK.A leaked email to BNP councillors revealed that the party is running a secret campaign to destabilise the Prevent strategy, set up three more...

National Front extremists will fight the rival British National Party at the general election.The clash follows a court ban on the BNP accepting new members because its rules are loaded against non-whites.NF activists claim their membership has surged by 70 per cent, swelled by BNP defectors angry at attempts to more...

It goes without saying that schools should be places that promote tolerance and understanding, and that there is no room for racist views in such organisations. However, the decision of the government not to ban teachers who are members of the British National party (BNP) or other groups that may more...

The British National Party was plunged into constitutional chaos today, just weeks before the general election, after a judge ruled its membership policy was still discriminatory.An injunction was placed on the far-right party preventing it from accepting new members until it complied with race relations laws. The BNP is also more...

Nine months after accusing mainstream Westminster MPs and Brussels MEPs of having "their snouts in the trough", neither Mr Griffin, nor his BNP colleague Andrew Brons, have given any details of how they spend allowances worth a combined £530,000 every year.According to Mr Griffin's website: "All accounts and expenses will more...

Teachers in England should not be banned from membership of the British National Party or any group which may promote racism, a review has concluded.The government commissioned the report last September after a leaked list identified 15 BNP members as teachers. Review author Maurice Smith added his recommendation should be more...

A West Yorkshire Police employee who is claiming unfair dismissal has had his tribunal postponed.Gary Marsden I'Anson, 48, from Morley, was arrested and sacked over his alleged association with the British National Party and for using work time to compile right-wing CDs and DVDs.He was arrested at his home on more...

The West Midlands Euro MP has refused to sit with her own party members in European Parliament meetings for weeks.
UKIP said her plans to stand also as a candidate for the party in the general election may not go ahead.
'May not stand'
Ms Sinclaire has refused to sit with her own more...

The Guardian by Peter Walker and Matthew Taylor
| Wednesday, 10 March 2010

The British National party plans to send officials to vet all would-be members in their homes, a court heard today.A clause in the far right group's revised constitution would require all applicants to submit to a two-hour home visit by two party officials, Central London county court was told.That could more...

The BNP's new membership rules "indirectly" discriminate against black and Asian people, the UK equalities watchdog has told a court hearing.The BNP has voted to admit non-white members but still requires them to sign up to its principles, the Central London County Court was told.A judge will rule on Friday more...

A white supremacist today admitted producing deadly ricin while preparing for acts of terrorism.Ian Davison's home in Myrtle Grove, Burnopfield, County Durham, was raided by anti-terror officers who found the killer substance in a jam jar in his kitchen.At Newcastle Crown Court he admitted producing a chemical weapon – ricin more...

A SMILING white family pictured on a BNP election leaflet are actually American models.The good-looking group were ­portrayed in the pamphlet as Brits who voted for the right-wing party.The BNP is distributing thousands of the leaflets to homes across Britain in the run-up to the general election.The leaflets show the more...

The British National Party's boast that it's changed its rules to let non-whites join is today exposed as a sickening sham.A senior figure in the far-right party openly told a British Asian reporter posing as a wannabe supporter he would not be welcome.Yet only weeks earlier, the BNP voted to more...

BNP chiefs are plotting to keep ethnic minorities out of the party by introducing an apartheid-style membership system.The leadership has revealed plans to give special "founder member" status to whites who joined before the party was forced to drop its racist constitution. Earlier this month the party was threatened with more...

A 19-year-old man has been found guilty of racially aggravated assault during a violent protest in Bedfordshire.Kier McElroy hit an Asian man with a banner in a shop doorway in Chapel Street, Luton, on 24 May last year.Jurors at Luton Crown Court found McElroy guilty of racially aggravated assault occasioning more...

FOOTBALL hooligan Jeff Marsh has been banned from football grounds for five years after admitting affray.The 44-year-old Cardiff City supporter was found in possession of a knuckleduster when he was arrested for affray outside the Ninian Park pub in Canton, Cardiff, last June.The self-proclaimed hooligan, who has written two books more...

You’d have thought by now the BNP would have got a bit wise when it comes to using pictures of nice happy smiling (decidedly white) families on their leaflets that it’s probably not best when trying to depict ‘British’ people, to use foreigners.Not that they haven’t got form for it more...

A BRITISH National Party activist and former North-East teacher who was sacked for absenteeism has lost his case for unfair dismissal.A judgement against former Sunnydale Community College teacher Mark Walker was issued by an employment tribunal last month.Mr Walker, 39, was suspended from the school, in Shildon, County Durham, in more...

The BNP's Nick Griffin is to be given a new TV platform by the BBC, it was revealed yesterday.Despite the row in the wake of Griffin's appearance on Question Time last year, he will appear again at the height of the general election campaign in the spring.The BBC said "alongside" more...

A senior official in the British National Party was invited to address a classroom on whether the hijab should be banned, The Times has learnt.Simon Darby, the BNP’s deputy leader, was phoned by 14-year-old students in Rochdale, Lancashire. The pupils, supervised by a teacher, asked him questions over the phone more...

The son of George Carman, QC, one of the Britain’s most notable barristers, is to take on Nick Griffin in the fight for Barking at the general election.The Times has learnt that Dominic Carman, the unauthorised biographer of the British National Party leader, is to stand as a candidate for more...

A CABINET minister and a punk have visited the region to join forces against racism.Home Secretary Alan Johnson and Irish punk rocker Feargal Sharkey spoke at the annual Hope, Not Hate rally at Trimdon Labour Club, in County Durham, on Saturday.The group campaigns against far right parties such as the more...

HOPE not hate seeks to challenge and defeat the politics of hate and extremism within local communities, building resilience against the politics of hate and fear, at a national and grassroots level. In order to maximise our contribution to the debate and comply with all UK legislation, HOPE not hate operates via two separate and distinct legal entities, through which we deliver a range of activities and services.

In early May HOPE not hate will be delivering over one million newspapers and leaflets across England, Scotland and Wales.